Architecture and the Visual Imagination

Subject 107-449 (2009)

Note: This is an archived Handbook entry from 2009. Search for this in the current handbook

Credit Points: 12.50
Level: 4 (Undergraduate)
Dates & Locations:

This subject is not offered in 2009.

Time Commitment: Contact Hours: A 2.5-hour seminar per week
Total Time Commitment: 2.5 contact hours/week , 7.5 additional hours/week. Total of 10 hours per week.
Prerequisites: Admission to the postgraduate diploma or fourth year honours in art history.
Corequisites: None
Recommended Background Knowledge: None
Non Allowed Subjects: None
Core Participation Requirements:

For the purposes of considering request for Reasonable Adjustments under the Disability Standards for Education (Cwth 2005), and Student Support and Engagement Policy, academic requirements for this subject are articulated in the Subject Overview, Learning Outcomes, Assessment and Generic Skills sections of this entry.

It is University policy to take all reasonable steps to minimise the impact of disability upon academic study, and reasonable adjustments will be made to enhance a student's participation in the University's programs. Students who feel their disability may impact on meeting the requirements of this subject are encouraged to discuss this matter with a Faculty Student Adviser and Student Equity and Disability Support: http://services.unimelb.edu.au/disability

Subject Overview: This subject deals with architecture as represented in other visual media, such as drawing, painting, prints, models, theatre sets, photography and cinema, in particular those works that employ architectural imagery in the service of the imagination. Issues central to the subject include the techniques employed to represent buildings; the role of linear and other ­perspectives in the graphical representation of architecture; the ways in which architects have used representations as part of the design process; fantasy architecture, the erotics of architecture, the ruin, the architectural image of death, and the utopias and the ideal city.
Objectives:
  • be familiar with the techniques painters, draftsmen, model makers and engravers have employed to represent buildings;
  • understand the critical techniques which have been developed to enable the non-professional to articulate his or her response to architecture;
  • possess an advanced understanding of certain themes in art and architectural history dealing with the representation of architecture.
Assessment: A 500 word essay proposal and a class presentation 15% (due during semester) and a 4500 word essay 85% (due during the examination period). Hurdle requirement: students must attend at least 75% of seminars in order to pass this subject.
Prescribed Texts: A subject reader will be available.
Breadth Options:

This subject is not available as a breadth subject.

Fees Information: Subject EFTSL, Level, Discipline & Census Date
Generic Skills:
  • be able to research through the competent use of the library and other information sources, and be able to define areas of inquiry and methods of research in the preparation of essays;
  • be able to conceptualise theoretical problems, form judgments and arguments and communicate critically, creatively and theoretically through essay writing, tutorial discussion and presentations;
  • be able to communicate knowledge intelligibly and economically through essay writing and tutorial discussion;
  • be able to manage and organise workloads for recommended reading, the completion of essays and assignments and examination revision;
Related Course(s): Master of Art Curatorship (Coursework and Minor Thesis)
Related Majors/Minors/Specialisations: Architectural History
Art History
Art History
Art History
Medieval & Renaissance Studies
Renaissance and Early Modern Studies

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